Vikings hold off upset-minded Warriors in OT

Central rallies from a pair of fourth-quarter deficits and wins, 53-44.

February 25, 2004|By Keith Groller Of The Morning Call

As people emptied out of the Parkland High School gym Tuesday night, Kathy Hassler greeted her husband, Ron, and warned him "that the roads outside are very icy."

Ron Hassler had already navigated a dangerous route as his Central Catholic boys basketball team staved off a serious upset bid by Wilson and pulled away in overtime to a 53-44 win in the District 11 3A semifinals.

No. 2 seed CCHS (16-10) will play in the district finals for the fifth straight year. The Vikes will face bitter Lehigh Valley Conference rival Bethlehem Catholic for the fourth straight year in the tourney and for the third time in four years in the title game.

CCHS-Becahi will be a solo event at Parkland Friday night, beginning at 7:30.

The No. 2 seeded Vikings rallied from a pair of five-point deficits in the fourth quarter and held their breath as a 3-point shot by the Warriors' freshman David Lenehan bounced high off the front of the rim as the regulation horn sounded.

That miss enabled the game to go into overtime tied at 40.

Wilson used the last of six 3-pointers by sophomore Matt Rush to take a 43-42 lead 40 seconds into OT, but Matt Melly scored inside off a Justin Gober feed and CCHS went on an 11-1 run to finally subdue the Warriors (17-9).

"This was more than a little scary; this was a lot scary," said Hassler, who will coach in the district finals for the 13th time and go for his eighth gold. "Wilson played five guards who handled the ball well and they shot so well, which is unusual for any team here at Parkland."

Off the scouting report, Hassler knew something about Wilson's No. 20. But when that No. 20 [Rush] continually swished 3-pointers, Hassler wanted to know his name.

"On film, he didn't look like he was their main guy, but he certainly became their main guy," Hassler said.

Rush scored 10 of his career-high 19 points in the third quarter -- the last being a trey at the buzzer -- to give Wilson a 34-31 lead.

The Warriors spread the floor and ran off large chunks of time in the fourth period, but never could put away CCHS. At the other end, the Vikings isolated sophomore guard Kyle Griffin, and he scored Central's last seven points in regulation. His jumper from the wing with 42 seconds left tied the game and paved the way for OT.

Once into OT, Wilson's hot hands cooled off.

"And, we finally went inside on offense and got some points," Hassler said. "We got back to what we needed to do and got an inside/outside mix working."

Griffin led a balanced attack with 13 points, while Melly worked inside for 12. Jeff Raimo scored eight of his 10 points in the first half, and Ray Straccia mixed a pair of treys into his eight points.

"Our smaller lineup brought us back," Hassler said. "We didn't play poorly, Wilson just played really well. This was a big hurdle."

Down the hall, Wilson players shed a few tears, but coach Bob Frankenfield beamed.

"In 29 years as a coach, no other team matched this one in terms of playing with heart and pride," he said. "That's a tribute to our seniors. Hopefully, their attitude rubbed off."

Frankenfield said he wouldn't have considered it an upset and didn't agree with the notion his team was loose because it had nothing to lose.

"I really thought we were the better team," he said. "The play at the end of regulation didn't go the way we wanted it, but you can't dwell on one play. Our kids played hard."